The more you give, the more you have. That's the economics of kindness.

Freedom is not found in the absence of difficulty, but in our relationship to it.

If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. This is the most basic kind of peace work.

When the heart is still, it can be kind. When the mind is still, it can see clearly.

Personal experience is everything in Zen. No ideas are intelligible to those who have no backing of experience.

The ultimate source of a happy life is warm-heartedness. This means extending to others the kind of concern we have for ourselves.

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.

Don't think that only sitting with the eyes closed is practice. If you do think this way, then quickly change your thinking.

In our struggle for freedom, truth is the only weapon we possess.

The contradiction so puzzling to the ordinary way of thinking comes from the fact that we have to use language to communicate our inner experience, which in its very nature transcends linguistics.

Our task is to learn to see clearly what is happening in each moment, rather than be lost in our reactions and judgments.

Each moment of clear seeing is a moment of freedom from the illusion of permanence, satisfaction, and self.

The path is not about moving from one place to another. It's about recognizing where we already are.

The highest mantra is to be without deception. The highest medicine is to have few desires. The highest meditation is not to be attached.

Just as true humor is laughter at oneself, true humanity is knowledge of oneself.

It is under the greatest adversity that there exists the greatest potential for doing good, both for oneself and others.

The most important thing is to enjoy your life - to be happy. This is the goal of Buddhist practice.

The deepest happiness comes from having an enduring sense of purpose, one that gives our lives meaning beyond the endless pursuit of pleasure and success.

Should a person do good, let him do it again and again. Let him find pleasure therein, for blissful is the accumulation of good.

The zazen I speak of is not meditation practice. It is simply the dharma gate of joyful ease.

Awareness is always with us. We don't need to create it or achieve it - we just need to recognize what's already there.

You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself.

Know the rules well, so you can break them effectively.

Sensations are not your enemy. They are your teacher. Through observing them, you understand the truth of existence.

Silence is sometimes the best answer.

Life is an art, and like perfect art it should be self-forgetting.

When we develop patience, we find that we develop a reserve of calm and tranquility.

Compassion is the radicalism of our time.

The Buddha's teachings are not a religion, but a science of mind.

Be a lamp unto yourself. Work out your liberation with diligence.

There is no difference at all between samsara and nirvana. There is no difference at all between nirvana and samsara.

The Buddha's teachings are not about abandoning our lives but about bringing the fullness of our attention to our lives.

People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth.